General Motors Examines Battery Packs’ Life After Volt

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Fact: GM is one of the first automakers to deliver an electric vehicle (EV) to the mainstream automotive market with the hotly-anticipated Chevrolet Volt. And while other manufacturers continue to prepare vehicles and test components, The General is already looking into unique methods to reuse certain parts of its EV.

One of the concerns with electric vehicles as a category is the environmental impact of their extremely large, expensive, and environmentally-taxing battery packs. In fact, it’s this step that appears to be the next major hurdle for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.

As such, General Motors is teaming up with ABB, a Swiss company specializing in power and automation technology, to explore the reuse of batteries from the Volt. One proposal calls for storing energy from wind and solar generators in the Volt’s battery pack. But fear not – this would not affect Volt owners and would instead use the battery pack for energy storage outside the vehicle after a Volt is retired from the road. GM has previously announced that the Volt battery pack carries a transferable 8 year/100,000-mile warranty in the $41,000 Volt.

With the Volt launch rapidly approaching, we’re bound to hear even more about reusing and/or recycling valuable components of the EREV. Hopefully, this will please outspoken critics of battery packs who opine that EVs are even more harmful than the gasoline-induced CO2 emissions they aim to reduce. In the meantime, GM will continue working with ABB, in addition to other firms, in finding a variety of ways to responsibly reuse, recycle, or dispose of Volt components when the vehicles reach their end of life (EOL). Stay tuned as we learn more!